People with Male-like Brains at Higher Risk of Autism

Germany, Feb. 9 -- According to a new study by a team of researchers from the University in Frankfurt, people who have a brain having male brain-like traits may be at an increased of suffering from autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
For the study, the researchers selected total of 98 right-handed adults, out of which 49 were male and 49 were female. All these participants were suffering from high-functioning ASD. In addition, they also selected 98 adults, 51 male and 47 female, without ASD and were assigned to a control group. The average age of all the participants was 18-42. The researchers performed MRI scans of the participants to measure cortical thickness of the brain.
The findings of the study revealed that females whose brains had features of male brains had three times more risk of suffering from autism spectrum disorder as compared to the females whose brains were anatomically more female-like.
The findings of the study were published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.